BATON ROUGE -- The LSU Diving team kicks off 2014 in Athens, Ga., from Jan. 3-5 at the Georgia Diving Invite held at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

“Starting off the new year with SEC type competition puts us right back on track for championship season,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “It’s important to get back into competition mode now and refocus. We will have three days of preliminary and final competition at the site of our 2014 Southeastern Conference Championships. Competing at the SEC site will be beneficial for us come February.”

All Tiger divers will compete in the three-day invitational against some of the top talent in the country including SEC foes Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. Divers from James Madison, Towson, Clemson, Iowa State, Southern Methodist, North Carolina State and Kansas will also be present.

The last time out, sophomore Cassie Weil finished ninth in final of the women’s 3-meter at USA Winter Diving Championships. Sean McKinney also qualified for his first final in a USA senior diving event. At the Alabama Diving Invite, freshmen Zakary Rowton and Katie Lagarde posted career highs.

Prelims on Friday and Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. CT followed by the finals on each board. The women will compete on the 1-meter and the men on the 3-meter on Friday. On Saturday, the women on the 3-meter and the men compete on the 1-meter.

The top six divers will advance to the finals at 5 p.m. CT on Friday and Saturday. The finals will be a round-by-round, knockout event. Each diver will only do one dive per round, and the diver with the lowest score will be eliminated until there is one diver remaining.

The Georgia Diving Invite will conclude Sunday on platform. The men will begin at 10 a.m. CT and the women at 1 p.m. CT.

A full recap will be available on lsusports.net at the conclusion of each day. For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter @LSUswimdive.